When the recent earthquake struck Myanmar, the damage to built heritage—temples, pagodas, historic halls, and other ancient structures—was immediately visible. These tangible losses made headlines and were quickly documented. But the impact on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), or Living Heritage, is far less visible and much harder to quantify.
ICH encompasses the living expressions and knowledge passed down through generations, including:
- Festivals and rituals: seasonal celebrations, religious processions, and traditional ceremonies.
- Performing arts: traditional dance, music, puppetry, and theatre performances.
- Crafts and artisan skills: weaving, pottery, wood carving, lacquerware, and metalwork.
- Oral traditions: myths, folktales, storytelling, and historical narratives.
- Traditional knowledge: nature-related wisdom, agricultural practices, and healing methods.
Why Assessing ICH Loss Matters
While monuments can collapse physically, ICH depends on people—the practitioners, elders, and artisans who create, perform, and teach these traditions. The earthquake may have disrupted or displaced these practitioners, making some skills and knowledge vulnerable to being lost forever.
Key considerations include:
- How many ICH practitioners, skilled artisans, or storytellers were affected or lost?
- Which festivals or rituals were canceled or postponed due to damage or safety concerns?
- How have livelihoods dependent on cultural activities been impacted?
- Are there disruptions to apprenticeship systems or opportunities for knowledge transfer to younger generations?
Without this data, it is impossible to understand the full scale of impact or plan effective recovery strategies.
How Heritage for Myanmar is Supporting ICH Recovery
The Heritage for Myanmar (HFM) team is developing tools to document and monitor the impact of the earthquake on ICH. Soon, the HFM application will include a dedicated form for earthquake-affected living heritage, allowing communities, cultural practitioners, and heritage enthusiasts to submit information about:
- Damaged or disrupted festivals and rituals.
- Loss of access to materials or tools for traditional crafts.
- Displacement or death of skilled artisans and performers.
- Threats to oral traditions, storytelling, and knowledge transmission.
This digital platform will provide real-time data to authorities and NGOs, helping to prioritize interventions, support affected communities, and protect Myanmar’s living heritage.
How You Can Help
We invite communities, local leaders, and cultural practitioners to share your observations and experiences:
- Which festivals, rituals, or performances were directly affected?
- Are there crafts or traditional skills at risk of being lost due to the earthquake?
- What support or resources are needed to sustain ICH in your community?
👉 Report and contribute via the HFM app:
Why Preserving ICH is Crucial
Intangible Cultural Heritage is the living soul of Myanmar’s cultural identity. While buildings and monuments can be repaired or rebuilt, the loss of knowledge, skills, and traditions is irreversible. Protecting ICH ensures that:
- Future generations can experience and learn traditional arts, rituals, and festivals.
- Communities maintain social cohesion, identity, and resilience in times of disaster.
- Cultural tourism and local economies that depend on heritage practices can recover sustainably.
